I started on a Roses and Wine pack a few years ago, was doing a lets play to show it off and my YouTube channel was closed for copyright infringement. Kinda put me off finishing it but with the decision to work on this project I thought I'd pick it back up again. Means I get to finish the Roses and Wine pack I wanted to do and we'll have all the music necessary for this project, win win. It's also a rough mix as I've gotten new instruments since I first started on the pack so this is really starting over again. I know the levels of certain instruments need adjusting, but any feedback would be great.

A HD remake will never be finished by amateurs.The good news is that graphics is never been a problem for retrogamers / pre-FFX final fantasy lovers.FF8 graphics is fine as it is (7 is the only one which admittedly is too basic).

QGears-like projects make way much more sense IMHO, because you then will have total control over modding, you could do an API to mod the game, etc. I don't care much for a HD remake, I care more for changing the gameplay, put a "skip scene" button, things like that, that would make the game fresh again.Even if you want to replace some 3D models it would still be a good starting point anyway, I mean having such a game engine.

HD games or HD remakes is not impossible(if it had not been for copyrights and trademark protection), by amateurs sure(however I would say most people here who even does the slightest of modding for FF7 or FF8 is a bit above amateurs), then again even something like QGears or even just emulating the game with all the original assets and code is too much for amateurs, heck even making HD textures or backgrounds for FF7 or FF8 is too much for amateurs due to the asset pipeline they have to work through, and in fact I think had it not been for FF7-FF8-FF9 using 2D backgrounds(they would have looked really bad back then and even more so now though) they would have recieved a HD upgrade from the community a long time ago, as it takes alot of time to get the mesh scales and textures etc right when modelling from 2D assets, then to render it back to 2D in great quality, had they been in 3D this work process would have been alot faster.

Lets agree to disagree about the FF8 Graphics.

QGears really doesn't offer anything that other engines doesn't, every engine I know of that you have available today either has a scripting language builtin or it is possible to add ontop of it yourself.infact QGears uses Ogre as its rendering engine which removes alot of work to even begin QGears.

The reason why projects like QGears usually dies, is because outside of reliving a game only very nostalgic fans would use it(aside from people wanting to download a package with everything+game setup for them beforehand), lack of interest/motivation, lack of time or lack of knowledge on how to proceed from the point it is currently at.It also isn't much fun to be the sole contributor(in the case of it being a community project) to something that alot of people is using. if you want perfect examples you could look at two games called Fallout and Fallout 2, which has had probably 5-6 community made engines all died out(way too many people arguing about what scripting language, how to port(preconvert or runtime conversion of original assets) and the list goes on.

What also would attract most people to use/help something like QGears is if it is easy to use, which to be honest it isn't(not compared to engines which has builtin support for most of these features), Unity being a perfect example, which is why it is so popular among amateurs.

Like was just said in the previous post, most people on here modding the FF games definitely do not fall under the definition of amateurs, they are clearly very skilled, hence I decided to enquire here about if people would be interested in it.

Unfortunately, the graphics on those older games are ruined when trying to play on modern monitors. It's one thing to have the 3d models rendered at 1080p which makes them a bit nicer looking, but the backgrounds are just stretched and look horrible. When playing FF8 recently I even noticed that just before you leave for the Dollet mission, after Headmaster Cid gives his speech, he becomes part of the background and goes from looking ok to a pixelated mess. Things like that are very difficult to fix with mods (and in that particular case I'd say that isn't fixable without recreating all backgrounds for Balamb Garden in order to maintain continuity).

Personally, I'm not interested in a QGears-like project, I'd like to work with the community to make a true FF8 remake that stays true to its roots with optional enhancements such as voice acting, optional alternative soundtracks and the like. As cool as it is being able to extract game files and stuff, they'd only get us so far in doing a good looking remake. They'd be good for reference in making new models and stuff, but if we tried to shove modern looking high quality models back into the original game, I can see things falling apart very quickly as the game was just not designed to work with such high quality assets. Besides that, imagine having the game done in proper 3D, being able to move the camera and see the world from angles you just couldn't before.

Skipping a cutscene sounds like an optional feature that would be nice to have, I'll bare it in mind.

Also, there is no reason this couldn't be finished. Obviously not as quickly as a professional studio working full time, but what do you expect? I'm sure it could be done in less time than it took to do FFXV

Also as was mentioned previously, Unity is a fantastic engine for amateurs, hobbyists and professional developers. I only mentioned it as I have a fair bit of experience with it, but as mentioned, it's very easy to get into no matter what your discipline is, be it coding, music, art, animation etc. Meaning if you've got the skill, getting your work into Unity and working will be a breeze.

Modelling is fun you know..Gas station sign/lampThis time I tested Substance Painter:You see, the main fun part with SP is it exports all additional maps automatically and even creates mixed map for UnrealEngine which is current standard, but it still needs some tweaking as the metallic is 1.0 and it literally drops whole basic_color input... Anyway, now the ground or gas ditsributor...

Sure! I was waiting for you and any texture artist!I'm making models in the newest 3ds Max 2016 Education edition, but I exported it to FBX so in case you don't have MAX you can edit it (It has UV map prepared for textures in case you wanted to modify them (e.g. the white block part is giant mess). Gas dispenser doesn't have a texture so far because I need to learn Substance Painter more first.. :O

Well, thank you. I am unable to work on them anymore as I do not have access to Autodesk anymore as my license was tied to a game design course.I was thinking the upper rim edges on the gaspump could be smoothed, as in the image they are rather rounded unless my eyes are tricking me.Love your work.

I was thinking the upper rim edges on the gaspump could be smoothed, as in the image they are rather rounded unless my eyes are tricking me.

Yep, you're right. I have an issue with chamfering the edges. The results are bad, I think I destroyed the mesh earlier with something, I don't know how to fix this so I did multiple Polygon outline >_> :

Anyway, I fixed the textures and metal is no more 100% shiny. I also tried to do the park-a-lot building. I spent 3-4 hours on this and yet it still looks bad. Someone, please. Take care of the textures.

I don't know what's on the ceiling in the last photo. It showed up in "High-res screenshot" function in UE4, 3ds max and ue4 in-game shows it correctly.

Holy crap, I'm away from the thread for a little while and this is what I come back to? Awesome! I'll try and make a bit of progress on the scripting side of things but this is looking awesome. As for substance painter, I believe Unity also has it integrated similar to how UE4 uses it so it should import to that no problem as well. Damn this is exciting

As for substance painter, I believe Unity also has it integrated similar to how UE4 uses it so it should import to that no problem as well.

Yep! Unity 4, Unity 5 metallic and Unity 5 Metallic Specular

I know we agreed to make Demo first with Dollet raid (yes or no? xD) but I decided to do Balamb for attention. As far as I can somehow do three buildings, lamp, gate and gas dispenser I can't do whole Italy-themed city/fountain statue/comm tower etc. this is far beyond my 'skill'

I know we agreed to make Demo first with Dollet raid (yes or no? xD) but I decided to do Balamb for attention. As far as I can somehow do three buildings, lamp, gate and gas dispenser I can't do whole Italy-themed city/fountain statue/comm tower etc. this is far beyond my 'skill'

I thought Dollet mission would be a good example but I'm happy to do whatever, besides, this definitely caught my attention and seemed to get others as well, so great job! Hopefully some other modellers will take note and take it on, but I mean we could still demo all of the games mechanics within Balamb Town just to show it off. May as well since there's already some progress there

If you are still a student of any kind (even highschool) then you can apply for three years educational license. I'm using one like this.Yep, you're right. I have an issue with chamfering the edges. The results are bad, I think I destroyed the mesh earlier with something, I don't know how to fix this so I did multiple Polygon outline >_> :

Anyway, I fixed the textures and metal is no more 100% shiny. I also tried to do the park-a-lot building. I spent 3-4 hours on this and yet it still looks bad. Someone, please. Take care of the textures.

I don't know what's on the ceiling in the last photo. It showed up in "High-res screenshot" function in UE4, 3ds max and ue4 in-game shows it correctly.

I should take some 3ds max course...

Sadly I am not a student since quite a few years ago, this was a separate online version of a school course which I completed.if its not visible in anything but the high res screenshot it most probably is a rendering bug of the engine.(cant think of any other reasons)

GasPump, maybe it would be easier to fix that by cutting away the faces in which is smoothed and just add another box with more faces then move the top vertices accordingly? that way you do not get uneven faces.

When doing the large scale remodelling from images(as I tried with Balamb main hall) I found using 3D coat made it alot easier by using its retopolgy tools on a flat plane then adjust it by what I could see would be height differences. I also found making the floors/road network first before adding anything would make it easier as you would have a layout to follow.(not being experienced at all in modelling or in any artistic forms whatsoever free hand modelling similar looks is flat out impossible for me.)

redoing dollet I would imagine the same approach would probably be very suitable(atleast from the little experience I have).

None of the videos does show this portion of Balamb. I bet they just left an empty space there. It wouldn't be the first time they lie with FMVs. World map shows that theres another building like Zell's home up to the village gate. Also, the railway station doesn't make sense at all. Everything doesn't make sense here. There are locations in Balamb that are not accesible even from logical point of view. Looks like we can start our imagination!

The backdrop for Balamb street shows that the weapon shop back part continues all the way up to the wall. Empty wall space actually.It's not logical because we do not have backdrops for every part of town.(which is expected),who would expect there only to be living 8 people in Balamb(I think this is an rough estimate considering houses and buildings visible through all the backdrops, not like Esthar were you can imagine every block essentially be a skyscraper:P)

The more models I make the more I want to see whole Final Fantasy VIII remade! I'm happy with the results

I decided to not scale the weapon shop up to the wall, but to add another residental house (it needs a bit of deforming/modifying so it's not 1:1 copy of the other house)Now I'll take care of the bench, lamps and etc. then the train station or hotel.